PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGS
WITH ALL YOUR MIND
INTRODUCTION
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Woodfin uses the phrase "an appropriate intellectual response to reality." What do you think he means by the word "reality"?
Next Woodfin goes on to define certain words which play an important part in philosophy. How does he define these words?
logic:
history
ontology
axiology
aesthetics
language
Any serious study of philosophy is going to have to deal with the above concepts.
What is the one key description of the person who wants to be a wise philosopher?
Before going any further, let me add one insight from C. S. Lewis. Your philosophy in order to be valid must take into account ALL reality and not just some part of it. Those pesky little exceptions to your philosophy are probably more important than those elements which make up your philosophy. The bottom line is this: those pesky exception are probably proofs your philosophy is either invalid or just plain limited.
Woodfin goes on to say that if God has revealed Himself to us in Christ Jesus, then we should see how that affects every area of reality. We are going to understand reality (life) in light of Jesus. We will go on to see if God has really done something special in Christ before we see how this affects our knowledge of life (reality).
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PART ONE: MAPPING THE LANDSCAPE
CHAPTER ONE: KNOWING THAT YOU KNOW GOD
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What is the danger of trying to know something?
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This creates a type of problem. Knowledge becomes circular. You basically have to know something before you can discover how to know it.
How does the example of friendship illustrate this principle? Complete the following sentence in order to see the point Woodfin is making: "However, knowledge of the way the experience is known ____________________________________________________." In other words, in order to be able to understand or know friendship, you must first experience it.
In other words, knowing reality and experiencing reality must go hand-in-hand. As a result, every epistemological statement is also basically an ___________________ statement.
The Problem of Religious Knowledge
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In the story of the garden 2 people see the same garden. Do the men reach the same or different conclusions?
The problem with this story is that it tries to answer the question of the gardener on the basis of empirical evidence alone. What questions does Woodfin say should be included in this inquiry?
The crucial issues at this juncture is, however, whether one should be allowed to ______________________________________________."
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In the same way you cannot judge certain religious beliefs in a limited way.
Woodfin describes the sequence of events which leads to assurance that your belief is based upon truth:
An Approach to General Knowledge
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Two elements are critical in order to know something: "Without ________________ no object would be given to us, without _______________ no object would be thought. Thoughts without _____________ would be empty, intuitions without _____________ are blind." Both of these elements are needed in order to know something.
Woodfin makes the point that most of us are simple realists and act realistically. (That's not bad since we ARE dealing with reality--life). In other words, we trust the data we receive from the world. When we see a stone, we don't wonder if it really is a stone; we accept that it is a stone. When people communicate with us, we accept their communications; we don't wonder if what we are hearing is what they are saying. We fortunately function realistically. In the same way philosophy needs to be realistic if it is going to reveal reality.
According to Woodfin three different elements make up the way to knowing something (epistemology):
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What is the pragmatic response concerned about?
Finally, what does Woodfin mean by the rational/reflective response?
In other words, knowledge is based upon (1) an inward compulsion that something is true, (2) the fact that this something works (has practical results), and (3) it harmonizes well with other disciplines, such as, science, history, etc. It is not a creature all by itself; rather it is part of the whole scheme of life.
Does knowledge have to come in this order, first intuition, second pragmatism, and third rational/reflective? Or can any of the 3 come first?
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What does Pascal say about the intuitive aspect of knowledge?
Pascal, Aristotle, and others almost make intuition totally separate from the other 2 elements of knowledge (pragmatism and rational/reflective). At the end of the paragraph Woodfin affirms a strictly intuitive approach to knowledge "within its proper ___________________."
Pythagoras stated that philosophy is "the love of wisdom." According to Woodfin what 2 parts make up this love of wisdom?
epistemology:
Do not be threatened by examining what you believe. The unexamined faith is not worth believing. The kicker is this: the more your investigate Christianity, the more valid and grounded it becomes.
Woodfin uses the story of Winnie the Pooh in order to make a certain point. On page 18 gives us the point of Winnie the Pooh story. What point is Woodfin trying to make by use of that story?
In the first sentence what does Woodfin say should determine the method you use to know something?
What is the most crucial issue a Christian has to face if he is going to know ultimate reality, that is, what is really out there?
In this paragraph Woodfin is stating that you have to be careful the way you determine whether or not certain religious beliefs are valid. How does a person measure or determine whether or not a religious truth is true? He uses the example of measuring love to determine whether or not love is true, genuine. A certain person tries to measure love. Are his measurements accurate or inaccurate? Explain your answer.
In other words, we become convinced that God has revealed Himself to us; we commit ourselves to God [this commitment enables us to experience God]; we then are convinced completely that God exists.
Regardless whether you are trying to know God or know biology, the way you come to know something is basically the same thing. In other words, you use the same method of knowledge in the area of theology that you use in the area of biology. Woodfin defines for us the way to knowing something: he "organizes his _____________ impressions . . . into patterns of meaning and _________________."
Woodfin first describes the intuitive aspect of knowledge. What is this intuitive aspect? What is intuition?
Here Woodfin focuses on the intuitive aspect of knowledge. What is intuition?